Luxury villas sales doubled in Q1 in Dubai

For the first time in several quarters Dubai villas worth AED 10 million plus showed a significant increase in sales.

According to ValuStrat, for the first time in several quarters Dubai registered a significant increase in luxury villas sales during three first months of 2016.

Haider Tuaima, head of the research at ValuStrat, noted that the share of AED 10 million plus (USD 2,7 million) villas transactions in the total volume of Dubai real estate sales increased to 11.1% in the first quarter of 2016 from 5, 7% in the last quarter of 2015.

This sudden increase in sales is partly attributed to a large number of new off-plan offers that appeared on the market in recent months. It is expected that new housing projects, including luxury villas on manmade islands like Palm Jumeirah, launched by Dubai developers in Q1 2016 will add another 2,000 homes to the emirate's residential stock in the short term to 2021.

Among the most popular projects there are Balquis Kingdom of Sheba villa complex on Palm Jumeirah, where IMEX Real Estate has to offer a number of off-plan villa units for sale. Buyers can choose from two to three-storey villas overlooking Dubai Marina, the world-famous Atlantis The Palm hotel worth up to USD 10 million, with private beach access, or they can take a note of another Palm Jumeirah villas project for sale, Kempinski Palm Jumeirah. Here, villas priced up to USD 7 million have jacuzzi pools on their rooftops, as well as "gold package" furnishings by Italian designer Francesco Molon and private gardens around the houses.

Investors’ high demand for these units hasn’t caused a sharp uptick in prices yet, however, this situation is unlikely to last for long, experts say. At this point, as estimated by ValuStrat, the median property value in Dubai is AED 1,319 per square foot for apartments and AED 1,361 per square foot for villas. However, it should be noted that these averages can vary greatly depending on the location and property type.